The beginning of Surah Al-Alaq , there is an Alif which if pronounced as an 'I' to join with the Qaaf and Raa should be pronounced as IQRA ...

Question
Surah Al-Alaq (The Clot) - I am trying to master the basics of Quran Reading and principles. Can you please help?

The beginning of Surah Al-Alaq , there is an Alif which if pronounced as an 'I' to join with the Qaaf and Raa should be pronounced as IQRA ...

However , there is no Kasrah , stroke underneath the Alif - can you tell me what the principle is for pronouncing the Alif as an 'I' with the absence of a Kasrah.

Jazakallahu Khairun.

Answer
Assalaam alaikum,
The reason there is no vowel on that "alif" is that is it hamzah al-wasl. You may notice the small little Sad over the alif.
The hamzah wasl is used when starting a word which has a sukoon as the first letter. The Arabs never start reading with a sukoon, so hamzah al-wasl is put on the beginning of the word and used only when starting reading with that word.
In this case, the hamzah wasl is on a command form three letter root verb and the third letter has a fathah, so we start the word by putting a kasrah on the hamzah wasl.
To learn more about the rules for starting words with hamzah al-wasl, please see the lessons at the following link:http://www.abouttajweed.com/hamzah-al-wasl/index.php
Please copy and paste this URL into your browser if it doesn't work.
Wa iyyaaium.